AWhat changed
G. I. Taylor photographed diffraction around a needle using increasingly attenuated light. He reported no reduction in the sharpness of the pattern, including for a photograph exposed for about 2,000 hours.
Scientific scope
G. I. Taylor photographed diffraction around a needle using increasingly attenuated light. He reported no reduction in the sharpness of the pattern, including for a photograph exposed for about 2,000 hours. The experiment used a gas-flame source, screens and photographic plates. It did not use a heralded single-photon source or record individual photon arrivals. Exposure calibration was checked under brighter conditions, and the plates did not reach exactly the same darkness. J. J. Thomson communicated the paper but was not its printed coauthor.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The experiment used a gas-flame source, screens and photographic plates. It did not use a heralded single-photon source or record individual photon arrivals. Exposure calibration was checked under brighter conditions, and the plates did not reach exactly the same darkness. J. J. Thomson communicated the paper but was not its printed coauthor.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: These are the listed authors of the cited contribution sources. Paper authorship does not quantify individual effort. An incomplete list is explicitly marked; same names are not automatically merged.
Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-28.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.
Full scientific record · Browse contribution grades · Request a correction